PUTRAJAYA: Sorry, no more extensions.
The Immigration Department is standing firm in its decision to not extend the deadline for the application of the Enforcement Card (E-Card), even as the number of last-minute applicants have doubled since Wednesday.
Immigration Department director-general Datuk Mustafar Ali said that after midnight today, the department will go on nationwide manhunt to track down and arrest employers as well as foreign workers who fail to obtain the E-Card.
“This is the Malaysian culture, where they will rush at the very last minute to do something.
“As far as the department is concerned, there will not be any extensions because the registration drive began on February 15. So there are no more excuses," he told reporters after visiting the E-Card registration counters at the Immigration Department, here today.
Mustafar said those do not possess the card beginning July 1 will face the full brunt of the law.
"We are going all out to arrest, fine and deport them (foreign workers) back to their home country. No more mercy,” he added.
He said that as of 8am today, the department received applications from 26,957 employers and 155,680 illegal foreign workers, with 140,746 E-Cards already issued.
"Only 23 per cent of E-Cards were issued out of a projected 600,000 cards. We are very disappointed with the lackadaisical attitude.”
Mustafar said the department has only taken in applications which came in by 11.30am today, for processing.
“The department is doing its best to accommodate all the applications but we also have limitations, whereby the systems that we use can only process a certain number of applications.
“Our officers have also been working round the clock to complete the processing of applications. Some of the officers went home at only 6am today,” he added.
The E-Card is applies to workers from 15 countries, namely Bangladesh, Philippines, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.